


Sweet Nightmares

by Dylan (Omgeeve3)



Category: Original Work
Genre: Other, Semi-graphic depiction of violence, daniel stop simping for your boss, nekane is an asshole, sugar is baby leave him alone
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-14
Updated: 2020-12-14
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:21:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,749
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28073139
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Omgeeve3/pseuds/Dylan
Summary: Nekane can’t handle emotional attachment, especially when the person she’s attached to actually tolerates her existence.A test AU for Sidekick, my original story. If I like it, I might make it canon.





	Sweet Nightmares

“Pity. You showed promise.”

Nekane stood over the still, bloodied body of her former captive, Puff. The cat’s eyes were still open in shock and fear, and her mouth lay open, streaks of blood staining the pure white of the left side of her her pelt.

Despite never showing any evidence of the electrical experiments working, she had been pregnant at the time, so Nekane had been looking forward to further tests on her children once they had been old enough to survive it.

Currently, Nekane was in her cat form. As a technically dead being, she had a few forms to switch between and the ability to warp and distort from there. Said forms consisted of her cat form and her human disguise. Her cat form was the form she awoke in after death, and is usually surrounded by red fires floating nearby. 

Her human disguise she used to talk to humans and to “take in” any pets they didn’t want anymore, so she could run experiments on them. Her favorite distortion was her ability to create black, slick tentacles that would protrude from anywhere on her body and could grab onto nearly anything. These tentacles weren’t the only thing she could distort, though, and she was feeling hungry...

As Nekane licked her lips, she jolted as a noise came from behind her, sort of a gurgling. Turning to face the noise, she recognized it. Ah, right, of course...she had forgotten that the kit was there too. Then, it dawned on her that this noise DID in fact come from the child in front of her. She looked back at the body of the child’s mother, then back to the kit. Nekane decided in that moment that if she brought this kid back with her and healed it, she COULD run those experiments she had been hoping to do. A grin crept onto her face, but was halted by the kitten coughing up blood.

Nekane sighed and shook her head, skillfully protruded a black, slick tentacle, and gently lifted the child from the ground. She hated kids. This had better be worth it.

* * *

The kit had been whining the whole way back. Each whimper agitated Nekane more, but gave her hope for its recovery. Thankfully, she was now safely back in her lab underneath the pet shop. She usually liked to stick to her cat form while skulking around, but due to the necessity of intimidation for her employees, she switched. As she exited the elevator, one of the scientists ran up to her with a clipboard and some notes scribbled over the papers. He began to open his mouth, but stopped when he saw the half-dead kitten in Nekane’s arms.

“Is that..?”

He began. Nekane nodded curtly. The man paused to lower his clipboard and lifted a finger to gently poke at the body, seemingly transfixed by the fact that it was still alive, then flipping up some papers in the clipboard and furiously scribbling some quick notes on the back of a sheet loaded with graphs and tables of information and messy handwriting.

“...Is there something you wanted to ask me?”

Nekane inquired. She had contorted her face in a mildly annoyed way, though in reality she wasn’t feeling very bothered at all, and was hoping her employee had some good news.

“Ah! Well-“ he cleared his throat. “We have an update on Subject 638. Er, one of the two we lost. Though of course, you already found Subject 645...”

He trailed off as Nekane shot him a glare, nonverbally telling him that he was on a short leash, and she would really like to get back to what she was doing. Quickly, the glare faded, and she sighed in exasperation.

“Tell me as I walk, er...” she glanced at his ID around his neck. “...Daniel..Reese.”

Reese reacted in surprise at first, as Nekane usually didn’t ask employees to walk with her. He shook himself out of it quickly, though, as this was important information. The two of them began to walk towards the screening wing.

“S-so, uh. Subject 638 has been reported as using its bioelectrogenic ability to stop burglary at the bank and convenience stores. Its last reported location was the corner of West Center and Hamilton at 3:45 PM yesterday afternoon, nearly a full fifteen minute drive away from the scene of Alpha Theta, where Subject 645’s life was terminated.”

“Eyewitness or security camera?”

“Security camera, ma’am.” 

“Mm.”

“Er..if I may ask, why do you have Subject 645’s offspring with you?”

“Hm...I suppose I may as well say. We already know Subject 645 didn’t show any sign of the bioelectrogenic effect, but because of its pregnancy, I was hoping screening tests could be done and eventually experiments after the kit recovers.”

Reese slowed. “Wait, didn’t Subject 645’s ultrasounds show evidence of two?”

Nekane hardly even spared him a glance. “Yes, I believe it did, however I do not know its current location. I don’t believe it will pose a problem to us, as these kits are likely only a month old, and there is a near impossible chance of it surviving on its own.”

“...oh.”

“You were one of the people on the bioelectrogenic effect project, correct? Before the subjects escaped.”

“Uh, yes ma’am, that’s correct.”

“Which project are you on right now?” Nekane asked, coming to a stop in front of a set of glass doors. She pulled out a card from her pocket and swiped it carefully, making sure to shift the weight of the kitten into the crook of her arm. Reese was silent for a moment, as he didn’t know if he was allowed in, but Nekane motioned to the inside area with her head and held the door open. Reese hurried inside.

“That would be unfiltered control research sector, ma’am.”

Nekane rolled her eyes. “Stop saying that.”

“Pardon?”

“Ma’am. You’ve said it at least four times in the past thirty seconds.”

“Oh. Sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it, I’ll let it be. Probably the least of my worries right now.”

The two of them had entered into a new wing. Previously they had been in the lobby of the first floor, the area that connects the top wings. The first floor consisted of three wings: the screening wing, the animal sorting wing, and the initial experiment wing. The screening wing is where all the animals were checked for diseases or physical handicaps, injuries, and full diagnostics were run on every animal to search for sex, eye color, pelt color, risk of developing diseases from experiments, allergies, and so on and so forth. The screening wing also included the hospital sector.

The animal sorting wing is where the animals are placed after their screening. They are then sorted by species, sex, then by their ability to withstand certain experiments. After the sorting, groups of subjects are sent to the initial experiment wing, where each subject is injected with a special serum, and a first experiment is run on each one before sending them off to specific experiment groups.

Due to the larger hospital being in the screening wing, Nekane’s default to getting this kitten the quickest treatment. Reaching the glass doors to the hospital, she carefully pushed open the door and walked right up to the front desk. Reese followed her inside hesitantly. One of the workers looked up at him in confusion, shooting him a look that said, “why are you here?” Reese shrugged at her and motioned to Nekane, then pointed at his clipboard. The worker nodded her head and gave him a small shrug in return. Despite being some of the best in their fields, the employees rarely knew what their director truly wanted.

“I want this kitten healed completely as fast as you can.” Nekane told the person at the front desk. “You know what will happen if it takes too long.”

“Ah- yes, miss Director.”

The front desk worker turned to the worker Reese had glanced at and nodded to her. She walked up to Nekane and carefully took the kitten from her arms.

“Run all the normal screening once it’s better. Then call my office directly.”

“D-directly?”

“What? You heard me.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Nekane glanced behind herself and saw Reese.

“Oh, you’re still here.”

“Uh...y-yes, I didn’t know if you wanted me to leave or not.”

“Mm...you said you were on the unfiltered control research sector right now, correct?”

“Yes?”

Nekane fully turned around and leaned against the desk, looked Reese up and down one last time, and sighed.

“I’m putting together a research team to deal with this mishap. It will be small, but it will also be under my direct management. One person for handling, one person for infield research gathering, and one person for data sorting and analysis. Considering your field and the fact that you’ve already seen the subject, I would rather put you on the team first and search for more people later. What say you?” She extended a hand.

Reese’s eyes widened in surprise. While he did enjoy working on smaller teams, being under the direct supervision of the Director herself would put him and whoever else on the team under a lot of stress. On the other hand, Nekane had acknowledged his ability to an extent and was extending the offer in person rather than a transfer notification...and if he did well, it’s likely she would see to a raise for the team.

“Sure! I-I mean, yes, I’d be happy to transfer.”

He reached out and took her hand, completing the handshake and confirming the transfer.

“Good,” Nekane said as she released her hand. “Now get your ass down to your current office and head to conference room number 8. If there’s anyone in there currently,” she took out a notepad and scribbled some words and her signature on it. “Show them this and say it’s orders from the director to clear out now.” She tore off the paper and handed it to Reese.

“Yes, ma’am.”

“God! Stop saying that!”

“S-sorry!”

* * *

“Miss Director, the screening has been run on the kitten you brought in- sex is male, relation to Subject 645 has been confirmed, eye color is, strangely, pink like his mother. Pelt color, well, you’ve already seen...no known allergies, and we are unsure if any experiments run on the mother have taken to him yet. We’ve given him the tag 762 and placed the mandatory chip in a collar for now, as we don’t know if he could survive a surgery to implant it...”

“Good. I’ll be over in three minutes and forty-five seconds.”

Nekane hung up the phone before the woman could say anything else. She was eager to get to the experiments, sure, but she didn’t have the slightest idea as to why she was so elated to hear of 762’s survival. In the back of her mind, she wondered if he had a name... she found herself clutching the cat necklace around her neck. Nekane shook her head.

“Three minutes and twenty-two seconds, Nekane...”

She mumbled to herself as she started out of her office, at a significantly faster pace than usual. She was glad they had remembered the chip. After 645 and 638’s escape from central, she had ordered that all remaining subjects have a tracking chip placed just under their skin. She scowled as she went. 638 had been her most prized subject. The mere thought of it irritated her, and she disliked being irritated. 638 had been her first truly successful experiment.

Nekane stalked into the elevator in a now-terrible mood. Crossing her arms, she began tapping her foot and reached up slightly to fidget with her necklace. The researcher next to her glanced over towards her and quickly back.

“What?!”

Nekane growled at them. They whimpered slightly in fear, recoiling, and stuttered out something along the lines of, “s-sorry, n-nothing, it’s nothing!”. She hissed slightly as the elevator doors opened to the floor she needed access to. She walked backwards out of the elevator, narrowing her eyes at the researcher and flipping her fingers to point from her eyes towards them.

Once the door had closed, Nekane whirled around and nearly sprinted down the hall towards and into the screening wing. She burst into the hospital’s doors, panting, and gasped out,

“Three...minutes....and forty-five seconds....on the dot,”

The woman at the front desk stood up quickly.

“Miss Director? Are you all right?”

“Fine!! I’m,,,,,,,,, fine.,” 

“W-well, alright then...you’re here for Subject 762?”

“Y,,,es..... yes, I am,” Nekane sighed deeply and tried to steady her breath. “Where is he?”

“Right this way, ma’am.”

The worker motioned around the corner, then began to walk. Nekane followed her. They walked for a short time, reaching a door quickly. She reached for the door handle.

“According to the other nurses, he may be asleep. I’ll give you ten minutes before I come check in.”

Nekane nodded, and the worker opened the door. Inside was a wall lined with cages, only one of which was occupied. Inside the cage was a light, probably one of those ones that generated warmth, a few blankets and a fluffy bed, and a small hole in the cage wall that led to a litterbox in a connected area. The cage was on the eye level, clearly meant for smaller animals and cats. Inside the bed was a fairly large cream, black, and brown kitten, sleeping, but not very soundly.

Nekane closed the door gently behind her and walked over to the cage door. She clicked open the lock as quietly as possible and opened the door. It came to her attention that this might be easier if she got smaller, so she warped down to her cat form and hopped up into the cage. Now in the small room, she sat down and tapped 762. 762 stirred and whimpered slightly, his eyes fluttering open. Nekane could tell he was tired despite having just been awake.

“...mama...?” He mumbled.

“Uh...no, not your mama. Your mama, er...won’t be coming back.”

“Why not..?”

762 pinpointed where the noise was coming from and raised his head to look towards it. Nekane clearly saw the misery on his face, and cringed slightly. She’d always enjoyed the despair of others, but this...this was different.

“Umm...well, your mama...she’s..dead. Simple as that. But you’ll...” Nekane hesitated. “...you’ll be safe enough here.”

“But...but I want my mama.”

“Well. I’m sorry, but I don’t have the power to restore her. At the moment, no one can cheat death.”

“...so..she’s...gone? Forever?”

“I’m afraid so.”

Tears began to well up in 762’s eyes. Nekane’s expression finally softened in sympathy for him.

“H-hey, don’t cry, uh...your mama wouldn’t want you to be sad, would she? Be..brave?”

“N-no, I...I guess she wouldn’t...” 762 sniffled, wiping his eyes.

“Do you have a name?” Nekane let the words slip out before she had a chance to hold them back, and surprised herself with the sympathy over 762.

“S-sugar.”

“Sugar?”

“Y-yeah. Do you...do you know where my sister is?”

“No, I don’t. I’m sorry, but..she’s probably dead as well.”

Sugar started to whine again, but tried to stop himself. “B-be brave...” he whispered to himself. Nekane’s brow furrowed in a concerned look.

“Listen, uh- Sugar...how about this? If you stay here, I can promise you warmth and a soft place to sleep at night, as long as you agree to letting us run a few tests on you every once in a while.”

“Will.. will they hurt?” Sugar asked worriedly. Nekane shook her head.

“No. There might be a small prick or two, but they won’t hurt too bad.”

He looked down at his paws, lost in thought. “What will happen to me if I say no..? It seems..it seems too good to be true.”

“Likely, the...humans here will put you back in the city. Alone. Healed, but alone. But here, you’ll be safe and warm and you’ll even be able to make friends.”

“...okay.”

“Wait, really?”

“Yes?”

Nekane raised her eyebrows, surprised at how easy it was to convince Sugar to stay. “...Okay then.” She stood up.

“W-wait!”

Nekane turned around. “Yes?”

“Will...will you be there?”

She paused. While yes, the team dealing with Sugar would be under her direct supervision, she didn’t quite know yet if that involved contact with him directly. She was sure they would let her if she wanted to, considering how scared everyone was of her...but...why did she want to? Nekane wondered for a moment, then looked up at Sugar. Making eye contact, she saw the desperation and fear in his eyes, and the sorrow shaking in his voice.

“Yes. Yes, I will.”

Sugar sighed in relief, finally seeming to relax. Nekane turned and hopped out of the cage, switching her form back to human at the same time. Sugar visibly recoiled in surprise.

“Still me.” Nekane said. “Magic.”

“Woah...cool!” Sugar exclaimed. Nekane smiled warmly, and reached to close and lock the cage door.

“Don’t worry, I’ll see you soon. Be nice to the hospital people.”

Sugar purred as Nekane opened the door and closed it behind her. The worker from the front desk was waiting for her.

“You seem pleased. I take it it went well?”

“He’s agreed to the tests.”

“He’s...agreed...? You...asked him? How? W-why?”

“I’m not sure. For some reason I felt like it was necessary to ask. As for how, don’t worry about it.”

“But-“

Nekane glared at her and motioned to her cat-shaped necklace. The worker gulped and went silent.

“I’ll see myself out. Alert me when the real tests are to begin and transfer him to the corresponding storage room.”

“Yes, miss Director.”

* * *

Back in the elevator once again, Nekane was descending to the second level. The second level of the establishment was actually below the first, and consisted of a few wings. One wing was meant for experiment rooms, one for conference rooms, and two for offices. Nekane only ever came down here to supervise experiments and the occasional conference she was needed at. She had only ever been inside the offices once. However, she had already memorized which part was which.

Because of the new team set up for Sugar’s supervision, the offices had moved slightly to include a new section. All the workers on the case had already moved into their desks and joined the new sector. Nekane was vaguely aware of eyes on her and small, quiet gasps and whispers from employees as she walked through the main office hall down towards the new sector. Sighing, she took a glance around, then opened the door to the sector.

Reese saw her immediately and stood up. He tapped the shoulders of two others rapidly and they immediately jolted up from their table and faced Nekane, who raised an eyebrow.

“M-miss Director,” Reese stuttered out. “I-I didn’t realize you would be coming by so early.”

Nekane looked at her watch. She was surprised to see she was almost a full hour early.

“Oh. Neither was I.” She stated simply.

“Er, I’m sure you’ve already seen their files since you approved them, but this is Mariam Mazus,” he motioned to the woman directly beside him, “and Wyatt Kamowitz.” he motioned to the man across from him.

Nekane nodded. “Right. Mazus was the one meant for infield research and Kamowitz for handling, right?”

“Yes, ma’am.” They said simultaneously, immediately cringing at each other for speaking at the same time.

Nekane thought nothing of it. Instead, she merely strode over to the whiteboard and popped an Expo marker.

“The subject at hand has been donned the name Subject 762...” She spent the next hour debriefing the new sector and answering questions. By the time they had finished, all three of the employees seemed a little less scared of Nekane’s sharp personality. This was the longest amount of time she had spent with any of her employees, and it was starting to make her fidget.

“Any final questions?” She asked. Kamowitz raised his hand slightly. “Er..I know I was called here for handling, but...well, we already know that he’s too young to show any signs at all of his power, and he’s..well...seemingly willing to cooperate, correct?”

“Ah. Well, just do your job when needed. That’s all. Help one of the other two if you get bored.” Nekane said. Kamowitz seemed a little disheartened by this reply, but said nothing further. No one spoke for a few seconds.

“Right, then.” she clapped her hands. “762 will be transferred downstairs soon. Call my office as soon as the transfer occurs safely.”

“Yes, miss Director.” Mazus told her. Kamowitz and Reese both nodded in completely different meaning ways.

Nekane nodded curtly and left the room. The entire way back to her office, her mind was full of thoughts about Sugar and how the experiments would run, but they all eventually came back to those sad, desperate eyes. She involuntarily frowned sadly.

Shaking her head, back in her office, she sighed and decided she needed a rest. She pressed a button on her desk that lifted up the bookshelf behind her and revealed a small room that could be passed off as the room of a preteen. The bed was large enough for nearly two adults, plush and soft. A dresser sat below a mirror mounted on the wall, mostly empty but still covered in a hairbrush, lotions and oils, and a hair dryer. There were a few posters on the wall for movies and shows that Nekane would never admit to anyone but herself that she enjoyed.

Had Nekane been a regular human, she would have told the constructors to add a bathroom as well. However, Nekane was not a regular human, so not only did she not require the use of a toilet, she didn’t need a shower either. She had complete control over her body’s scent and appearance. In fact, most of the time, she had no scent. Unfortunately, the faint smell of brimstone that followed her wherever she went could not be helped.

This was, in fact, where she spent most of her time. She did have an apartment in the city, but she mostly used it for storage and hadn’t been inside it in over three weeks anyways. There was, however, a small fridge attached to the wall. Nekane enjoyed the sensation of consuming real food and drink, but once it passed through her throat her body destroyed the matter and transferred it immediately into vitamins and sustaining elements. Hence the lack of a bathroom. The only food she really needed came from people and living organisms. All living things contained a certain energy, which she craved. To keep herself from disappearing, consuming this energy from others was a necessary step for her.

Also mounted on the wall was a small television, which she mostly used to watch movies that were well known to be for children. However, she passed right by it on her way to the bed. She could feel her energy slipping away just from looking at how soft it was. She tapped another button to lower the bookshelf, and once she was absolutely certain no one would disturb her physically, she allowed herself to collapse on top of the bed.

As Nekane allowed her mind to slip into the oblivion of slumber, she vaguely remembered those same sad eyes.

And then it all went dark.

* * *

“Where’s my clipboard??” Nekane yelled out to the three others in the room.

It had now been a month or so since testing on Sugar had begun, and Nekane had named the new sector “Spice”. Reese had been confused by this name, but Nekane seemed unwilling to elaborate, so he said nothing further on the matter. Throughout the whole time, Nekane had been spending more time with the Spice sector, and in turn with Sugar. She couldn’t quite describe what it was, but every time an experiment had the potential to be dangerous for him, she shut it down. Remembering those words he spoke, “will it hurt?”, somehow destroyed any willingness she had to get the tests done quickly. For Sugar, she decided she would go the long route.

Nekane additionally surprised herself with how lenient she had become with the things the Spice sector said and did. Normally, when one of her employees made a mistake, it could have meant death. But, yesterday, when Mazus messed up for the third time in a row, she simply sighed, walked over, and began to assist her to do it correctly. The week prior, Kamowitz had forgotten to bring his wallet while at the vending machine, and Nekane happened to be passing by, so she pushed Kamowitz out of the way, tossed a few quarters into the machine, got something for herself and the item Kamowitz had been eyeing, and offered it to him. In fact, there had been a time where Reese had fallen asleep on the job, as it was very, very late, and they were the only ones left in the office. Instead of yelling at him until he awoke, Nekane glanced over at him, removed her long jacket, and draped it over him like a blanket. 

Nekane didn’t quite know what this meant yet. The best analogy she had was that, somehow, she was becoming...friends with them.

It had been many years since Nekane had had a friend.

“I’ll say it again, where is my-“ she was cut off by a tug at her coattail. She glanced down and was surprised to see Sugar standing there, wagging his tail like a dog, clipboard in his mouth. He offered it up to her and she took it.

“Here you are!” He meowed at her. Reese glanced over. “Is 762...meowing at you?”

Nekane looked at Sugar, puzzled. “Who let him out of his cage?” She asked. Kamowitz raised his hand. “Oh, that was me. We finished tests a little while ago and nobody was there to take him down to storage, so... I just took him here.”

“Oh. Don’t do it again.” Nekane told him.

“Yes, ma’am.”

She had kept eye contact with Sugar the whole time. Sugar tilted his head to the side, smiling. “Actually...” she began. “Maybe it would be easier if I kept an eye on him in my office.”

“Are you sure?” Reese asked in surprise. “You’ve never asked to keep an eye on one subject in particular.”

Nekane shrugged. “He has promise. After 638’s and 645’s escapes, I don’t want to lose any more valuable subjects, and my office is just as safe as the storage.”

“Will... will his needs for survival be tended to?” Kamowitz asked nervously. “Of course.” Nekane glared at him. “Do you take me for a fool?”

Kamowitz shook his head no. “Your call, I guess.” Reese said to her. “You are the boss.”

Nekane nodded. “Good to know someone knows their place.” Reese looked at Kamowitz while Nekane turned away and shrugged. “I’ll deal with the transfers myself, no need to worry about it.” She told them.

Sugar licked his paws at her feet.

* * *

Nekane awoke to something poking her face. When she opened her eyes, Sugar was sitting on her chest. His eyes widened in joy when she moved.

“Director!” He cried out, smiling. “You’re awake!”

“D...director...?”

“That’s what the people in the other room called you,” Sugar tilted his head.

“Uh...I suppose. My name is Nekane, not Director. I just happen to be the Director of this establishment.”

Sugar licked his paws and then his chest.

“Wait, what are you even doing in here? Didn’t I put you in your cage last night?”

“Oh! I picked the lock.” He purred. 

“You what?” She shot up out of bed and looked towards the cage. It was indeed busted open, just like Sugar said he had done. Small sparks of electricity still flickered on the lock. Nekane looked at Sugar, who was now shaking his fur off from being flung up so fast.

“Did you...use...electricity?”

Sugar looked up excitedly. “Mhm! My fur started standing on end and I tried to call for you, but after a few seconds it got to be too much and I just focused it out. Then a huuuuge lightning bolt came out of my fur and shot the lock and it swung right open and I got out and slept on your bed instead!”

Nekane’s eyebrows had been raised the entire time. She involuntarily scooped Sugar up and held him up above her, smiling. “Sugar! That’s incredible!! I’m so proud of you!” Sugar seemed surprised by her sudden change of pace. She realized her actions and softly set him down. “I-I mean, uh, this...proves useful information for the future.” She stuttered out, embarrassed. “This does mean some things are going to have to change, though.” Sugar giggled and smiled.

“You’re saying it just...exploded out of him?” Reese asked Nekane in shock.

“That’s what he’s saying.” She replied.

“...alright then. I’ll let the rest of the sector know.”

“Oh, Reese?”

“Yes?”

“You’re doing a good job.” Nekane smiled warmly. Reese looked at her, surprised to be able to look at his boss without being completely unnerved. It was nice. 

He glanced to the side, flustered. “Uh...th-thanks.” Reese hurried out of the room and went directly up to Mazus.

“Hey, does the Director seem...off to you?” He asked.

“Mm..now that you mention it, she is acting sort of strange. The other day, I saw her standing in the graveyard. Maybe she lost someone recently.”

“Oh. Jeez, I hope not. She might be weird, but I would never wish a family member’s death on her...maybe I could go check it out.”

“Isn’t that technically stalking?”

“Well- no! Maybe! I’m just trying to check on my boss, that’s all!”

“Whatever you say. Go ahead, I guess.”

Reese glanced once at Mazus, who seemed not to be paying attention anymore. His attention was stolen by a tug at his pant leg. Looking down, he saw Sugar at his feet. “762? Do you need something?”

Sugar meowed. Reese picked him up and looked into his eyes, remembering how Nekane had said she had spoken to him.

“Hm...okay, 762, mini experiment time. Hey Mazus, I’m gonna borrow 762 for a bit! Gonna see how his comprehension of human language is.”

“Yeah, whatever, Reese.”

Reese brought him through the offices and into the testing wing. The Spice sector had been given its own testing room specially fit for Sugar’s power potential. He set Sugar down on the table, who looked up at him happily and meowed.

Reese sighed in concentration. “Okay, 762. I’m going to talk to you and tell you to do things, and I want you to do what you decide is the best option.” He turned and grabbed a cat treat and toy from the drawer under the table. He placed one on one side of the table and one on the right. He then placed a yellow sticker on top of the toy.

“762.” Sugar looked up at him. “Get the one with the yellow sticker.” Reese told him. Sugar blinked for a moment and looked at the two options, then stood and gently picked up the toy in his mouth, offering it up to Reese.

“...no way.” Reese stared at him in awe. “You...can you understand what I’m saying?” He asked, lowering down to Sugar’s eye level. Sugar meowed and nodded his head, bopping Reese’s nose gently. He gasped quietly and righted his posture.

Reese grabbed a piece of paper from the drawer and wrote his name on it. He held it up for Sugar to see, then pointed at himself. “Daniel. Daniel Reese.” Sugar meowed Reese’s first name in a strange mimicking way, mutilated by kitten noises, but an imitation of his name nonetheless. Reese’s mouth fell open involuntarily.

He pointed at Sugar. “Do you have a way of saying your name?” Sugar thought for a moment. “Myuuu....mmmmyuuuuuga!”

“...Myugar?”

Sugar shook his head. “Myuga!”

“Myugar.”

Sugar hissed and repeated the “ga”.

“Jugar...? Sssshhhh....Sugar!”

Sugar nodded his head excitedly. Reese smiled in joy. “This is so surreal, I can’t believe you could understand me this whole time!” Sugar rubbed up against his arm and purred. Reese started to pet his fur.

“Oh, you’re so adorable...I hope I get to stay in this sector for forever.” He mumbled to himself.

Reese returned Sugar to the sector a moment later. No one was in the room. He told Sugar to go find the others and that he was going to leave the room. Sugar meowed in confirmation and Reese bolted. If he hurried, he could make it to the graveyard before it got dark.

However, it was getting to be a very dangerous thunderstorm outside.

* * *

“Where’s Reese?” Nekane asked, picking up Sugar.

“Dunno. Something about an experiment on Sugar’s...understanding language...? and a graveyard, too. Seemed in a hurry.”

“Really...”

This is stupid, he thought to himself, standing in front of the graveyard. The rain was coming down hard, but the old metal gate swung open smoothly. You’re walking into a graveyard because your coworker told you about your boss coming here late at night. How dumb is that? He laughed nervously to himself, trudging along anyways.

“Good news, everyone! I’m transferring you back to your old locations.” Nekane clapped her hands, telling Kamowitz and Mazus. Mazus looked at her in confusion.

“But we just made a huge breakthrough. Has something happened we don’t know about?” She asked.

Nekane looked at her. “You’ve done enough. I can handle the rest myself.”

“But-“

“No questions. I’m your Director, and I control what happens...to you.”

Mazus recoiled in fear. They all knew what that meant. 

“Uh... I promise I’ll go quietly, as long as you answer this one question. Why didn’t you wait until tomorrow? When Reese got back?” Kamowitz asked.

Nekane’s face seemed to darken. “Reese has stumbled across some information he’s going to want to make public. That has to be dealt with before it becomes a problem. Obviously, we can’t let that happen, because then we’d all be out of jobs, wouldn’t we?”

Kamowitz and Mazus exchanged glances. “Okay then,” Mazus replied.

Damnit, where the hell is it? Reese thought to himself. He remembered what Mazus had told him, that it was somewhere towards the center of the graveyard. It should be just...around... He stopped. It felt like a movie scene, he just looked to the grave to his side.

The name was obscured. The date of birth was incomprehensible too...but the death date was clear as day.

He walked up and kneeled in the mud carefully, pushing up the tree branches.

1997-2011. This was a child’s grave. He wasn’t sure he wanted to know the name, but his curiosity was in control.

Nekane Bell.

Reese felt his heart

* * *

“Nekane? Where are you going?” Sugar meowed.

“Did you have a conversation with one of the scientists?”

“Well, I wouldn’t call it a conversation, he told me to choose the toy with the yellow sticker and told me his name and I tried to tell him mine and somehow he figured it out.”

“I see.”

“Are you going to kill him?”

“Now, where did you hear that from?”

“Some of the other animals said you’ve killed others before.”

“Oh. They were bad animals, Sugar. If they lived, they would have hurt more than dying. It was mercy.” Nekane told him.

“But are you?”

“No. I am not going to kill him. Normally I would, but...I don’t know, I just can’t. I can’t kill him.”

“My mama used to call that caring.”

Nekane paused. She thought to herself for a moment, fidgeting with her necklace. “Your mama knew a lot, didn’t she...” she mumbled to herself.

Reese was running back to the HQ at this point. He was drenched in rain and his pants were covered in mud from kneeling down to see the grave, but that didn’t matter to him. Reese knew that something was up. 762- no, Sugar- had a name, he could talk, Reese’s boss was dead in a grave and whoever was currently posing as her probably wasn’t real, and the state of the entire world might be in danger.

It was already way past the time when everyone had gone home except for nightshift workers and janitors by the time Reese finally got back. Exiting the elevator into the main lobby, he ran out fast but then stopped dead in his tracks. In front of him stood Nekane.

“Direct- No, Miss Bell!”

Nekane sighed. “So you really did go to the graveyard. I was hoping you hadn’t, then it wouldn’t have been as big of a problem.”

“Why did you hide 762’s understanding of human language? Why is there a grave with your name on it with the date of death as 2011??” Reese cried out. He wanted answers, and he wanted them now.

She stared at him with cold eyes. He shuddered. “Do you know why we run experiments on animals here, Daniel?” Reese was floored by Nekane’s use of his first name and he couldn’t help but feel a bit fluttery at the sound of it. He shook his head to clear the feeling as quick as he could. “W-well, it’s to research the prevalence of supernatural abilities in animals and to study it in action...right?”

Nekane shook her head and clicked her tongue. “Well, you’re partially right there. Our research COULD be used for that. But that’s not what it’s really about. What we REALLY want is their power. Why should it be the lower lifeforms who get all the fun? Us humans should have that potential as well. And before you say I’m not human...I am. Well, I used to be. It is, in fact, my grave that you saw. The truth is, I died in the airplane that crashed in the ocean in 2011. My parents tried to keep me alive and gave me this necklace under the belief that my ancestors might give me the possibility to survive. But I never woke up. Not in that body, at least. I woke up in this city, in Starfall, in the body of a black cat.”

She started walking closer, very slowly, while she talked. “It took me over three years to get a handle on my shifting. I only have two forms, really...but I can summon these black tentacles in either one.” As she said this, the floor shook a little, and dozens of black, inky tentacles rose from the floor, trapping Reese from retreating any further back. “There have been dozens of animals here who have died by my hand because their continued existence would have just been suffering. I do not kill other beings because of desperation, not anymore. Eating their energy is only a bonus.”

“Eating...their...energy?” Reese breathed. Nekane licked her lips and smiled in the most horrifying way possible. “But I’m not going to eat yours.” Reese sighed in relief. “Why- why are you telling me all of this? Do you somehow already know what I plan to do? I can’t let this go unknown, you have to be stopped!” He yelled out. His expression slowly changed as he made a realization, and swallowed dry.

“I’m not getting out of here alive, am I?” Reese rasped. Nekane laughed quickly. “Oh, no, I’m not going to kill you. I’ve already said, I only kill out of mercy. And besides...” she stopped when the gap between them was only a foot or so, causing Reese to back into the tentacles and fall down. Nekane reached down and lifted his head up with her index finger under his chin. She made direct eye contact with him and smiled. Reese’s eyes widened in a mix of horror and fear. Nekane moved her other arm much too fast for Reese to react, plunging a syringe full of some glowing liquid directly into his arm. He barely had time to whimper quietly in fear and pain. As the world started to get blurrier and darker, he looked up into Nekane’s eyes.

“...you’re much too valuable to die, Daniel Reese.”

Everything went black.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! This is my first time posting something on AO3. I hope you enjoyed Nekane being a bastard. And FYI, Reese did not die! Just passed out. If it gets enough demand, I might make a second work for what happens next because I already have some good ideas.  
> -Dylan


End file.
